The Life of Tia Edwards
by Zibbling
Summary: Tia Edwards has just moved to England and starts Hogwarts as a fifth year tomorrow. This story is just fluff, it doesn't have much of a plotline, but in this one James Sirius Potter is actually a nice guy.


I lay in my bed, contemplating what I'd be doing this time tomorrow. Around me, my room was its usual self- a tip, in other words. My wand was on my bedside table; my guitar was on its stand beside it. The sun was streaming through the gap around the curtains, illuminating the scene. I smiled to myself and snuggled into my covers, was there anything better than waking up and not having to get out of bed? I felt a small jolt as my new kitten, Mowgli, jumped onto the double bed beside me. _Mrrrp?_ I smiled again and pulled him closer, stroking his black fur. He settled himself down on the pillow beside my head, and proceeded to ignore the laws of personal space that govern humans. In my experience, all cats do this. I guess I should probably tell you something about myself. My name is Tia Edwards, and I start at Hogwarts as a fifth-year tomorrow. I've lived in New Zealand, and gone to school there since I was seven, but we lived here in England before then, and moved back here a month ago. It was a mutual decision, so I'm not angry with them or anything, unlike some people I've known who've had to move. Sure, I'll miss my friends, and I'll have to make new ones at Hogwarts, but I'm okay with that. I got Mowgli the same time as we did my school shopping, two weeks ago, as a moving in present. We weren't allowed cats at our old place, because it was a conservation area, but I've always wanted one, and you're allowed them at my new school. Music suddenly started playing from the magical alarm clock beside my bed. It was charmed to start playing the music you were in the mood for, even if you didn't know yourself, at the time you set it for. Although it was my last opportunity to sleep in for- wait for it- five days! I didn't like waking up after 11. It just felt like too much of the day wasted. Besides, I wanted to pack today, so I didn't have to get up super early tomorrow. Stretching, I sat up, watching Mowgli tumble off the pillow and onto the bed, still asleep. Snickering slightly to myself, I headed for my en suite bathroom. This, I told my parents when we were house hunting, is essential for me, and any other self-respecting teenage girl, I am sure, will agree with me. Besides, since my older brother Alex decided to get a separate house when we moved here, we had plenty of space for all of us. Alex is going to be in seventh year at Hogwarts this year, and turned seventeen this summer, so he had been flaunting all the things he could do as an adult all summer, such as drinking as much as he could before passing out at his party, moving out, and using magic around me _all the time. _This had always gotten on my nerves, that I couldn't use magic outside of school yet, and he knew that. He's mature like that. As I stepped into the shower I thought with appreciation of the spells Alex had put on my trunk. Although he could be an idiot sometimes, we got on pretty well together, and he'd told me of the horror stories he'd heard of trunks being too small to fit those oh so non-essential items like _extra underwear _and _deodorant_. Therefore, he had promised me he would bewitch my trunk with an undetectable extension charm _and_ a featherlight spell, both -he assured me- essential, and, as a happy coincidence, two of the spells he was best at. He also added a spell that only let people with my best intentions at heart open my trunk, in case my parents or friends needed to get something out from it. At times like those, I particularly loved my brother. I mean, that was going to be so useful. After I'd gotten dressed I pulled my trunk out from under my bed and set it on top. Then I clumped down the stairs to get breakfast. Alex was already sitting at the counter. He was going to stay here in the spare room tonight, so getting a lift with us to King's Cross tomorrow would be easier for everyone.

'Hey,' he greeted me, moving his stuff that was taking up most of the bench.

'Morning,' I said, sitting down beside him. I grabbed the cereal and dumped some into a bowl. Splashing in some milk, I started scarfing it down.

'Why the rush?' Alex asked. 'Going somewhere today?'

'Just want to get packed early, so I don't have to wake up super early tomorrow before we leave. You're still going to put those spells on my trunk, aren't you?'

'Of course,' Alex crammed the last corner of his toast into his mouth and stood up. 'I'll do it now.' I followed him upstairs, and watched as he touched the inside corners of my trunk with his wand lightly, muttering _extendio indectia _each time. He turned to me. 'Basically, your trunk is now bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. How that works, I don't know. I got a headache trying to figure it out, so I gave up, but you're welcome to try. You'll still be able to see what's inside like you would normally, but you can fit more stuff in. The featherlight charm is a bit different. For every kilo you put in, it will weigh a feathers weight. It doesn't seem like a big thing, and for you it probably wont be, because you won't be putting everything you own in it, but just keep that in mind.'

He finished putting the rest of the charms on my trunk, and gave me a hug.

'I'm going back to my flat to pack my own stuff. I'll probably be back around lunch.'

He turned into space and apparated away. I rummaged around in my top draw for the list I'd written last night, and went to grab my new robes, laughing as I turned to find Mowgli lying in my trunk. Scooping him out, I started to pack.

I was done by midday, so I closed my trunk and lay back on my bed. I was going to pack a separate bag for the stuff I would need tomorrow, like my robes, and my magical iPod. It's just like a regular iPod, but you don't need to charge it, and it's also got wizarding radio, plus to start playing a song you just have to hum a few bars.

I heard a crack from downstairs and headed back down, Mowgli following me and trying to attack my feet as I went.

Alex was hovering his trunk next to the door as I came down, his broomstick propped up next to it. I remembered my own broom as I saw his, and hurried outside to get it, nodding at Alex as I passed. Alex and I both had Aero III's, pretty decent brooms, and Alex had been on the team at Westlake, his old school. The teams only took seniors, so I wasn't, but I helped him practice, and he'd given me some tips over the summer, so I was going to try for one of the house teams this year. I wasn't sure yet what house I would be in, or what one I would like to be in for that matter. Alex had made a few friends this summer, most of which went to Hogwarts, but they were all in different houses. From what I had heard about the houses, I thought that Alex sounded like Gryffindor material, but I couldn't think of what one I would be in. I suppose it's always easier to judge someone else rather than yourself.

Arriving at King's Cross the next morning was pretty straightforward. I had my trunk, my guitar in its hard case, and Mowgli in his cage. All of which I promptly dumped on a trolley. Alex did the same. Walking to platform nine and three quarters (Seriously? Platform nine and a half didn't sound magicky enough?), I saw a lot of other people going the same way, with owls in cages or massive trunks, and assumed they were also going to Hogwarts, unless there was some other school starting today that permitted owls, cats and toads as pets. I'll admit, walking through the barrier was a bit disconcerting, but at least mam and dad had been through it before, since both of them had gone to Hogwarts. I thought of the muggle-borns trying to get to the Hogwarts Express with sympathy. The platform was swamped with parents saying goodbye to their offspring, and teenagers pretending they were too cool to love their family. Personally, I've never gotten that. Why is loving the people you have known all your life considered uncool? My family has never been one for drawn out good-byes, so after quick hugs to both of my parents and promises to write semi-regularly, Alex and I boarded the train, smoothly picking up our charmed trunks as we went. Me and Alex split up, Alex looking for the friends he had made over the summer, while I was just trying to find a compartment that wasn't infested with twelve-year-olds. We were still pretty early, so I found an empty compartment with relative ease. Lugging my trunk and guitar into the luggage rack, I sat down in the corner, putting Mowgli's cage on the seat next to me. I extended the earbuds and plugged myself in. I know what you're thinking, "Earbuds? Really, magic knows no boundaries." Well, there was an option where only you could hear the music playing, even without earbuds, but do you know how weird head banging in public without a visible source of music looks? Of course, there's an invisible setting for classroom use, but I've hardly ever used it, because take it from me, it is a _challenge_ to find invisible earbuds if you drop them. Roughly five minutes later, at about ten to eleven, a group of teens entered the compartment. The one in front, a dark-haired boy who was, to be frank, fairly attractive, spoke.

'You don't mind if we sit here, do you? These seats aren't saved for someone else?'

'Nah, you can sit here if you want,' I replied, standing up to shift Mowgli to the luggage rack. The boy and his friends filed into the compartment and sat down. There were four of them including him, a pretty blonde girl and a boy who could've been her brother, who had blonde hair too, and a dark-skinned boy with frizzy hair.

'I'm James Potter,' the first boy introduced himself, 'and these are my cousins, Freddy,' gesturing to the dark-skinned boy, 'Louis, and Dominique,' waving his hand at the others.

'Tia Edwards.' I said. 'And that's Mowgli,' nodding up at the luggage rack.

James smiled, a flash of white teeth against his tanned face.

'You must be new. Are you in fifth year?'

'Yeah,' I said, sitting back down. Freddy sat beside me, and the others took the seats opposite, as the train began to move. Louis took out a small sketchpad and started drawing something.

'Any idea what house you'll be in?' Freddy asked.

'I think my brother might be in Gryffindor, but I haven't a clue about myself.'

James nodded, satisfied.

'Gryffindor's the best house.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'It's good to see you're open-minded about these things.'

James cracked another grin while the others laughed.

'Finally' Dominique said, "'who can stand up to James.'

'I'm presuming you guys are all in Gryffindor?' I asked.

'Actually,' Dominique said, 'I'm in Slytherin, and Louis is in Ravenclaw, but James and Freddy are, yes.'

'Doesn't that make it awkward for you guys to hang out? My dad was telling me there's house common rooms, but if you're all in different houses, where do you go?'

'There's this place called the Room of Requirement we discovered in second year. I guess we'll show you tonight, if you're up for it?' James said.

'Sure.' I said, pleased to have made some decent friends early on.

'Where are you from?' Louis asked. 'That accent definitely isn't English.'

'I'm from Bradford originally, but we've been living in New Zealand for the past eight years. We moved back in June, bought a house in Dorset.'

Dominique had taken out her wand and was now tapping Louis' drawing with it.

'Dom,' he complained, drawing out her name into two syllables, 'It's not finished yet.'

'Yeah, but you need to add colour to see what it's really going to look like.'

'Sorry, but what is it?' I inquired.

Louis turned the sketchpad to face me. On it was sketched what looked like a letterman jacket, in black and red.

'I was thinking of taking it to Longbottom, and seeing if he'd let the Quidditch teams wear them out of class. Like the ones in the U.S. This is just the Gryffindor one, but we'd have them for all the house teams.'

'Who's we, exactly?'

Freddy turned to Louis. 'You know, you should really publish your memoirs so we're spared having to tell everyone how successful you are.'

Confused, I turned to James for an explanation.

'Louis is probably the richest self-made guy at Hogwarts,' he said, leaning back in his seat. 'He's basically an economic genius. In third year, he started designing Quidditch t-shirts for students to wear at the house cup matches, and they were really popular, so he expanded. Last year he started selling hoodies and beanies, hired a person from each house to sell his stuff in the common rooms, and he's planning on hiring a boy and girl from each house to act as models this year. He's been drawing all summer in that sketchpad, coming up with new clothes.'

'If you're in Ravenclaw, why did you do the jacket in Gryffindor colours first?' I asked, fascinated by the whole idea of it.

'When I started with the t-shirts, I figured that Gryffindors went in for house pride more than Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs, and I didn't have any friends in Slytherin, so I tested them on James and Freddy. James has already agreed to be the male model from Gryffindor, and he's on the Quidditch team, so this is essentially the design for his jacket.'

I could see why he chose James as a model. I could see his arm muscles from here, and I could imagine what he looked like with his t-shirt off. He had dark brown eyes flecked with green, silky black hair, and lightly tanned skin, probably from playing Quidditch.

'Do you play Quidditch?' asked James, looking at me.

'Of course,' I replied. 'Chaser. What about you?'

'Chaser,' he smirked. 'Going for a house team?'

'Why not?' I shot back, keeping up with his pace of questioning easily. 'What's your team?' I asked, preparing myself for a rigorous round of "Whose team is better?" Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when he revealed that he supported Puddlemere United, the same as I did.

The rest of the train ride was spent talking about Quidditch. Freddy, it turned out, was a Harpies fan, thanks to brainwashing from his mum at an early age and Louis and Dom both supported the Chudley Cannons, which made for a pretty interesting conversation. As it started to get dark, we changed into our school robes. The others had robes with their house colours on them, but mine was plain black. Dom explained it to me.

'After you get sorted you can add you house colours to them with a spell,' she said, 'and your sweater and tie as well.'

'So what happens when we get off the train?' I asked, not wanting to look like a fool. 'Do I follow you guys, or is the somewhere I have to go?'

James answered. 'You'll go in a boat across the lake, because you need to be sorted with the first years and the other new students. We go up to the castle in carriages, but I can show you to Hagrid first. He can be a bit intimidating if you don't know him, but he's pretty cool, and he's a family friend of ours.'

'Thanks James,' I said, feeling a bit relieved.

As the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, I saw the silhouette of an enormous man, lit up by the lantern he was holding. James noticed me staring.

'That's Hagrid,' he said, smiling at my reaction. 'Leave your trunk and stuff here; they'll be taken up to your dorm during the feast.' He turned to the others. 'Save a spot for me in the carriage.' He walked down the corridor, beckoning for me to follow him out the nearest door. As we made our way through the throng of people o the platform, he slung an arm over my shoulder, steering me to Hagrid, who was shouting 'New students over here!' and the group of new students. Most of them were first-years, of course, but there were about eight other transfer students. I saw Alex looking at James' arm over me with a raised eyebrow; I shrugged and gave him an innocent look back and he shook his head and turned away. Alex, thank god, isn't really overprotective of me like the stereotypical big brother would be. He trusts me to make my own decisions. While all this was going on, James had been chatting to Hagrid, and now he introduced me to him.

'This is my friend Tia, Hagrid,' he said. 'She's starting as a fifth-year this year; I was just showing her where to go.' To me, he said 'I've got to go find the others, but I'll see you at the feast, or afterwards, if you're not sorted into Gryffindor.'

With a smile, he turned and walked away. Alex made his way over and stood next to me. 'So …' he said with a grin, 'who was that dashing young gentleman I saw with his arm around you?' Alex takes a very sarcastic approach to big-brotherhood.

'That was my _friend_, James.' I replied, giving him a light shove. All of a sudden the group started to move towards the cluster of trees nearby. We followed them down a path through the trees, until we came to the lake. Me and Alex shared a boat with two of the other transfer students, and we sat in awkward silence until we reached the underground harbor. As we stood waiting for the cue to walk into the Great Hall, he turned to me and spoke.

'Tia, if we get sorted into different houses, and I think it's a possibility, we probably wont see each other much until Christmas. So if that happens, I want you to stay alive and make good decisions, okay?'

I nodded and hugged him, and he hugged me back. We released each other and the doors swung open.


End file.
